Tuesday, January 24, 2017

NEW AIRLINE PLANS: Alas del Sur is another LCC candidate in Argentina

Artist's image of Alas del Sur A320. (Sir Chandler blog)

Alas del Sur recently surfaced as another candidate to establish a Low-Cost Carrier (LCC) operation in Argentina under the new liberalized air services environment introduced by Argentine President Mauricio Macri since he took office in December 2015.The carrier already operates as a charter and air taxi service in Argentina but is seeking authorization to operate regularly scheduled air services, both domestic and international, working with Chinese business partners and US$ 100 million in start-up capital. Business Plan - 2017

The airline's business plan calls for it to start service in April 2017 flying three A320 aircraft from a Cordoba (COR) base to six domestic points; Bariloche (BRC), Buenos Aires Aeroparque (AEP), Mendoza (MDZ), Neuquen (NQN), Puerto Iguazu (IGR) and Salta (SLA) plus three regional South American destinations; Rio de Janeiro Galeao (GIG), Sao Paulo Guarulhos (GRU), and Santiago (SCL). By year-end 2017, Alas expects to have six A320's in service. Three 777's are also planned for intercontinental service from Cordoba (COR) and Buenos Aires Ezeiza (EZE) to Madrid (MAD) and Beijing (PEK). Alas would start with 547 employees and projects US$ 73 million revenue in its first year. Business Plan - 2022By 2022, Alas projects having 1,460 employees and US$ 595 million in revenue while flying twelve A320's to 25 domestic points and 12 regional South American destinations. Intercontinental flights would be flown by five 777's with Los Angeles (LAX), Miami (MIA), Barcelona (BCN) and Shanghai Pudong (PVG) being added to the route network. Subsequent to the above information, Alas submitted route requests to the ANAC Argentine aviation authority in early December, which were published in the "Official Bulletin" prior to public route hearings that were held on December 27 with five airlines participating; Alas del Sur, American Jet, Andes Lineas Aereas, Avianca Argentina and Flybondi. These route requests expanded considerably on those announced in the original business plan and would be for possible operation during the next 15 years showing the maximum number of stops. More than likely, the number of routes and number of legs on each route that would actually be flown would be far fewer than those shown:

About Me

I was born in Uruguay but moved to the US when I was a young boy.
I worked for Air North and Brockway Air at Boston's Logan Airport and for Quebecair and Finnair in outside sales, the latter for 15 years.
I still have relatives in Argentina.